Saturday, 31 October 2009

One way to travel light is to go out with the clothes you're wearing. In my case, it was a Spiderman costume.

Before I left for work I was deliberating whether I had the balls to go out in public with nothing else. After I locked the door behind me, there was no going back. I literally didn't have the time to go and change into my normal clothes. There wasn't a "Plan B". It was Halloween. People would get it.

I had the mask covering my face so no one would recognise me. In the morning it didn't feel that strange. Most people just acted not a whole lot different than seeing a gaijin on the train. Surprised me quite a bit. I thought there'd be a bit more reaction.

Yotsuya Station. Looks like I wasn't the only one wearing a mask. Ha Ha. This is my "full body" protection for swine flu.

Here I am on the Yamanote Line. You can see "Harajuku" on the TV screen.

You'd think people would notice Spiderman a bit more than this.

I'm only including this picture for the look on that guy's face. Ha, Priceless.

Coming back into Shibuya after work, there was a noticeable difference. Everywhere I went I heard.. "SPI DAH MAAN" and people sneaking photos on their cell phones. In Shibuya I couldn't resist taking snaps of myself in front of the very busy Shibuya crossing. It was PACKED and I stood out, just a little bit.

Shibuya is easily the most popular, social nightspot in Tokyo, and the Hachiko statue is where everyone chooses to meet up with their friends on a Saturday night. I couldn't resist to go one better and have my Spidey photo taken with him up close. Many others took the opportunity to get a picture to. I posed for a few minutes before moving on.I wanted to take a photo here at the JR Hachiko entrance before catching a train for the Ikebukuro party. An old man tried to "shoo" me away, but some nice costumed J girls said "Happy Halloween", and gave me a chocolate biscuit. Nice. Thanks!

The party wasn't bad, but I was the only native English teacher there. Not surprising when they ask us to PAY to attend. With some of the students my head hurt trying to figure out what they wanted to say. I just wanted to drink. The staff harassed me so much to come along, I decided to come. They did put me on the spot asking me in front of students which didn't make me happy. Yokohama was my first party choice, but here was a little closer to home for a drunk spider.

On the way home the cameras were out in force where I happily er, drunkenly posed for them. The worst thing someone said was "Spiderman.. OTAKU! (geek)". Meh.

As I was about to walk across the Yotsuya crossing, a Joker (Heath Ledger style) yelled out to me and I went to shake his hand. I don't remember what he said, but it doesn't matter. Even though Halloween doesn't mean that much to me, I was part of something special tonight.

If anyone has any Spiderman sighting photos of me somewhere on the web (yes, that was intentional), link me the picture. I'd love to see them.

About Me

For some reason I have decided to leave my fine, if a little ordinary well paying job and family home where I don't pay rent and move to a country where I won't be able to read and barely speak the language. I have been to Tokyo before for a very short time. I was lost, confused and virtually on another planet. Why am I doing this? Because I HAVE to. I need to get out of the comfort zone I am in and really begin to live my life, start again and hopefully be happier overall. When I am sober I am thinking, "What the hell are you thinking?!?" but when I'm drunk I'm thinking "WOO HOOO!". So maybe if I'm drunk all the time I will accept this better.